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Lyla Rivers
Lyla Genevieve Rivers (b. August 29, 1988) is an American actress, singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in 2002 as a child-star playing roles on the Disney Channel. She starred in roles that were dominantly known as the "prissy, not-so-smart but very popular" girls; in School's Out! she played Imogen Piper; in Maxwell's Dynamic Show she voiced Babette the Prize-Winning Lamb; and in her final Disney show, Camp's Out! she reprised her role of Imogen Piper. As Imogen Piper, Rivers released three albums through Walt Disney Records with fellow School's Out! star, Blake Rose Minchin. She eventually broke away from Disney in 2008 as she wanted to branch into tougher work. Rivers starred in independent films for two years before landing the lead role in Freeform's supernatural drama television series, The Revolution in 2010 - she plays two characters on the series to this day. In 2016, Rivers announced her return to the music industry, dedicating her first solo single to her deceased mother. The album, Genevieve was released later in the year. Rivers announced via a Twitter update in 2018 that she had signed a contract with Disney to pen musical numbers for their upcoming new musical television series. Also in 2018, Rivers announced she was working on new music, hinting at a summer hit. Early Life Lyla Genevieve Rivers was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Genevieve Rivers (d. 1991), a former church choir singer and Richard Cross, a museum caretaker. Cross ran out on both mother and child when Rivers was only 9 months old. Rivers' parents never married. After the loss of her lover, Genevieve lost touch with herself and became the victim to her bipolar disorder. In 1991, Genevieve committed suicide by hanging herself after dropping her daughter off at her aunt's house. Lyla was later adopted by her aunt and uncle. In 1999, Rivers performed in her first school play where she found a great interest in performing and acting. Her aunt and uncle signed her up for acting classes and in 2001, she was signed to do background scenes for Disney shows. The family relocated to Los Angeles to support Lyla's new found fame in 2003. In 2011, Rivers publically recognised New York theatre actor Alexander Cross as her paternal uncle. It's undisclosed if Cross helped Rivers get in contact with her father or not. Career Disney Years: 2002-2008 In 2002, Rivers was scouted by School's Out! show creators Gordon Hunter and Louisa Wishart, both inviting Rivers to audition for the role of Imogen Piper. Rivers had filmed some background scenes for Disney prior joining the comedy-musical series. She appeared in all four seasons and sixty-two episodes. In 2005 while the fourth season of School's Out! was airing, Rivers landed the role of Babette the Prize-Winning Lamb for comedy cartoon series, Maxwell's Dynamic Show. She appeared in the two seasons and starred in all nineteen episodes before it was cancelled in 2007. Rivers reprised her role of Imogen Piper in spinoff series, Camp's Out!, alongside Blake Rose Minchin (Hanna Lowe), which lasted for one season and had sixteen episodes in it. As Imogen Piper, Rivers released three studio albums alongside Minchin with Walt Disney Records. She also toured under the character's name from 2003-2004 all around America. After Disney: 2008-present In 2008, Rivers signed a leaving contract with Disney; mainly due to her issues with Blake Rose Minchin, but also because she wanted to branch out into adult television. A month after leaving Disney, Rivers starred in cop-thriller Broken Guns as Eloise Parker which won her a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Female Supporting Actress in 2009. She went on to star in three other independent films; Doctor on Maine Street; Claws Come Out; and Seashells. In 2010, Rivers began starring in Freeform's (originally ABC) The Revolution as Hannah Benley, which is one of the lead roles. Since 2014, she has also starred as Catherine Price. It is currently on its seventh season. Since 2017, Rivers has had a recurring role in the NBC medical television series, Educating Doctors as the hospital's administrator, Vanessa Chase. The third season is currently in production. A Disney executive, in 2018, stated that Rivers had been in conferences with an unnamed television producer to discuss her possible return to the network. Rivers confirmed this, adding that she was being brought on to work on a new television musical series that was being released next year. She neither confirmed or denied if she would be appear in the series. In May 2018, Netflix America released a series of articles stating that they would be releasing a new original television series, historical drama "Phantoms of Magic". Rivers was confirmed to be starring as Countess Carissa Bellevue. The series is set to hit Netflix in 2019. Musical career Rivers first began singing professionally at the age of fourteen, where she sang as her character on School's Out!. As Imogen Piper, she released three studio albums with Blake Rose Minchin appearing on each of the three studio albums. Rivers obtained copyright ownership rights from Disney in 2008 when she left, alongside a hefty $2.5 million compensation prize selling her the character name. In 2016, she made her grand return to the music industry, releasing her first solo single "Genevieve". A further two singles, "The Party Killer" and "Baggy Old Blue Jeans" (which is a song explaining her feelings towards former best friend, Blake Rose Minchin). The album, titled for her late mother, was released in May 2016. Rivers has expressed an interest in releasing more music in 2018, hinting at a summer hit. Personal life In 2007, Rivers came out as lesbian, making her relationship with publicist Karen Sailing public knowledge. She stated it was the easiest event in her life, and that she hopes others her age will have the courage to do what she did. Rivers and Sailing split in 2015, both citing that their work commitments were getting in the way of each other. A year later, Rivers entered a relationship with make-up artist Roxanna Glover who she met on the set of The Revolution. After eight months of dating, Rivers proposed to Glover. Lyla lives a vegan lifestyle and is a strong advocate for LGBTQI+. In 2016, not long after the release of her album Genevieve, Rivers confessed she graduated from the University of California with a minor degree in Mythological Studies. Feud with Blake Rose Minchin Although Rivers' coming out as a lesbian in 2007 was met with positive responses, her fellow Disney star best friend Blake Rose Minchin claimed that it was a "horrible move" on Rivers' part: "We work on children's television, she can't exactly be praising her unnatural lifestyle choices or the kids will get confused and think everyone should be like "Lyla Rivers". It's a horrible move on her part, I thought she was better than this." LGBTQI+ followers immediately jumped to Rivers' defence, sending hate messages to Minchin. Two days after the statement was released, Rivers did an interview with Ellen Degeneress where she officially ended her relationship with Minchin, saying she had no room for toxic people in her life. Since the release of "Old Baggy Blue Jeans", both Minchin and Rivers have been actively following each other on Instagram, both being civil with each other. Minchin stated that the song taught her a lot about acceptance and that it's now became one of her favourite songs. Social media presence Unlike her co-stars, Rivers is not entirely public with her personal life, only choosing to reveal such personal things on official interviews or on her Instagram (she reached 35 million followers in July 2017, and is currently sitting at 39.6m). Rivers hasn't got a Twitter account or Facebook page (although there are fan-made pages out there). On May 23 2018, Rivers joined WeHeartIt - a somewhat similar site to Pinterest - which suggests she may be interested in boosting her social media presence. Filmography Films Television Music videos Discography * Imogen Piper: Sweet School Songs (2003) * Imogen Piper: An Album for Friends (2004) * Imogen Piper: Goodbye, Friends (2006) * Genevieve (2016) * Love Blossoms (2019) Tours * The School's Out! Stage School Tour, Part 1 (2005) * The School's Out! Stage School Tour, Part 2 (2006) * The Greek Tragedy of Genevieve (2016) Awards Category:Lyla Rivers Category:Fanfiction Category:The Revolution cast and crew